RECORD-BREAKING HEROIN SEIZURE AT LESOVO BORDER CROSSING

More than 200 kg of heroin were seized by the Bulgarian authorities at Lesovo checkpoint on 6th of July. The drugs are at an estimated street value of 18 million BGN. This is the largest amount of drugs seized at the Bulgarian border with Turkey since Bulgaria joined EU in 2007.

At a press conference given at Lesovo checkpoint, the spokesperson of the Prosecutor’s Office Rumyana Arnaudova said that the drug detecting operation was successful and praised the work of the joint team which included officers from the Bulgarian customs, police and the Prosecutor’s office.

The record-breaking amount of drugs was detected in an Iranian lorry transporting 22 tonnes of tomato paste in cans. The destination was Holland.

Using an X-ray, the Bulgarian customs officers identified that the load had heterogeneous density and started a thorough customs examination. It turned out that the heroin was hidden in bags in factory sealed cans, which were lighter than the cans of tomato paste. All night long, until 6.10 in the morning, customs and border police officers worked on separating the cans with drugs from the cans with tomato paste.

The detected heroin is with a concentration of 58% of the active narcotic substance.

The Iranian driver was ordered into custody for 72 hours. The Prosecutor's office pressed charges for alleged smuggling of narcotic substances in exceptionally large amounts.

photo: BTA